The dark underground parking lot, the dangerous guns, and the escape — this kind of familiar environment made Xu Le feel a little uncomfortable.
The internal strife of the Empire had nothing to do with him, a soldier of the Federation. Ever since he entered the underground parking lot, he had been standing silently at the back, watching everything unfold, trying his best to listen to the Empire's language, which was difficult to understand.
Assassination, traitor — he felt that the conversation of these Empire people was very much like a clumsy script, but he had never thought that such a clumsy script would have such a seemingly natural, understated, and yet extremely sharp ending.
The Empire soldiers looked at the traitor officer lying in a pool of blood with disdain, walked to the side of the underground parking lot, pulled open the cement wall camouflage outside, and then tore off a large piece of blue electronic dust-proof cloth.
With a whoosh, a new Empire mecha in black and green revealed its true appearance amidst the flying dust. Its armor glowed with a faint metallic luster, its body slender like a demon, and strange metal boxes hung from each of its joints.
Xu Le narrowed his eyes, his pupils constricting — this was the Peach Miasma that had brought him to a dead end.
…
…
Huai Caoshi coughed twice and silently boarded the mecha, while the rest of the Empire soldiers quickly dispersed. All the lights in the underground parking lot suddenly went out, and in the darkness, the low and powerful sound of multiple engines suddenly rang out, cutting through the silence and stifling atmosphere.
Just before the rebel army surrounded the street, the Peach Miasma mecha broke through the door at high speed, turning into a ghostly shadow under the light of day. It crushed the cement road, knocked away the tanks in its path, and roared as it ran away. Its speed was swift, and its momentum was heroic. It did not look like it was fleeing at all, but leaving proudly.
And then it threw itself into the sea of mulberry trees.
…
…
Inside the dimly lit cockpit, only the green sea of mulberry trees on the monitor screen could soothe the nervous nerves and somewhat dry eyes. Those tender twigs and leaves fluttering in the wind flashed past the screen at high speed, gradually becoming countless green lines. It was possible to infer just how astonishing the speed of the mecha was at this moment.
Xu Le slightly lowered his eyes, no longer looking at the picture of Sang Hai on the light beam that lasted for almost half an hour. His eyes fell on the officer of the Imperium next to him cautiously.
The person beside him had sustained significant injuries in the attack at the ring-shaped restaurant. Blood had dyed a large portion of his body red, but this person's expression did not change at all. He continued to operate his mecha steadily, skillfully, or even exquisitely, dodging at high speeds through the sea of mulberry trees, avoiding what seemed to be an increasing number of enemies.
Could it be that the imperial family were all monsters with endless blood flowing through their bodies?
This should be a nervous escape, but to Xu Le, he thought of himself as an outsider, so he had enough calmness to observe everything that was happening.
Especially this Peach Miasma Mecha.
This was the latest generation of mecha that the Empire had successfully developed. It walked the path of multi-joint micro-engine acceleration. It was different from the Federation's development of the new mecha, but it was very similar in essence.
Xu Le had not expected that in such a tense moment, this young Imperial personage would actually bring him along. However, this just so happened to provide him with a rare opportunity to observe the Empire's new mecha up close.
He used his eyes to observe all the devices in the cockpit of the mecha, doing his best to memorize everything he saw. Although the chances of him returning to the Federation alive were slim, if he had the chance to send back this first-hand information, it would definitely be of great help to the Federation.
Other than the internal structure of the Empire's new mecha, he was more interested in the way this young Imperial officer beside him operated it. After a long period of silent observation, he confirmed that this person's method of operating the mecha was extremely similar to his and Li Feng's — they were also using a device similar to the simulation system, directly transferring the power in their bodies into the internal sensors of the mecha. It was just that the other's device was clearly more compact, with only the connectors at the cuffs of the mecha visible.
During their escape in the Mulberry Sea, this Imperial officer had operated the Peach Miasma Mecha to easily break through the enemy's encirclement. In several thrilling encounters, he had killed several enemy mecha like a tiger tearing rabbits apart.
Xu Le had been watching his operation all this time, once again feeling the terror he had personally experienced on the battleship.
In the process of breaking through the encirclement, this Imperial officer had displayed an unparalleled level of mecha control. This was especially true of the calm and sharp senses that radiated from his bones, as well as the exquisite micro-operations that danced between his fingers. What looked like the simplest input of commands, the most standard mecha movements, when combined at a certain frequency, would become so powerful …
Sometimes, without waking up in the middle of the night, Xu Le would privately analyse himself and feel a little satisfied and proud. Other than his talent in mecha maintenance, what he was most proud of was his mecha operation skills. In just a few short years, even if he could not say that he was invincible in the military, at least no one had dared to challenge him. However, after the battle on the battleship today, he could not help but admit with some desolation that this Imperial officer beside him was indeed far more skilled than himself.
Admitting that he was inferior to the other did not mean that he would always admit defeat. His personality determined his way of thinking, especially when he thought about how this Imperial officer beside him was really that legendary person. If he was really that person from the legends, then losing to this person would not be considered too shameful. At this moment, he missed dearly that black MXT that had self-destructed on that flagship …
The Mulberry Sea in the middle of the night was like the sinister grasslands of the giant kingdom. Starlight cascaded down from the dome above, and those dense branches and leaves that swayed gently in the night wind were like the countless tentacles of a monster, ready to bind and devour the people who were trying to escape at any moment. Those dense rustling sounds were like demons eating with a smile on their faces, making people shudder in fear.
The Peach Miasma mecha, covered in metal boxes, was currently lying on its side in an empty space in the forest like a giant pile of metal trash. The temperature of the mecha had already dropped significantly, so in the cool night, it should be able to hide from the infrared scanning systems of the pursuers.
Xu Le leaned against a mulberry tree. The weeds beneath him were somewhat damp and cool, making his lungs feel uncomfortable. He used his hand to cover his mouth, stopping all the coughing, his face showing an unhealthy flush.
The dog-eat-dog of the Empire had nothing to do with him. Those pursuers had heard the coughing and rushed over. Killing that Empire officer did not make him feel the slightest bit of guilt, but for the sake of his own safety, he still needed to be a little more careful.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at the empty space beside the mecha more than ten metres away. The night was dark, but his eyesight allowed him to see everything clearly. That Empire officer seemed to have tried to contact someone earlier, but had failed. The Empire officer's expression was rather heavy. After using a first-aid kit to treat his wounds, he had been sitting silently under another tree, eyes closed, resting.
From that somewhat shocking amount of HP, it was possible to determine that the opponent had suffered a very serious injury. However, Xu Le did not have the urge to help the opponent. Even for the sake of his own safety, he was willing to let this powerful opponent be a little weaker. Moreover, this kind of freakish human resembling Madman Li probably would not die so easily.
In the darkness of the mulberry forest, the two of them did not speak, each thinking about their own concerns.
Earlier in the dining hall, Xu Le had been puzzled as to why this Empire officer had such a heavy expression. Now that he was more and more certain of the other's identity, he could more or less understand. Thus, the only question that truly troubled him was that gunshot at the beginning of today's assassination.
Why would the ACW secretly developed by the Federation appear within the Empire's borders? Why would it appear in the hands of those assassins?
Xu Le pondered in silence for a long time. He could only think of one explanation, and that was that in these past few decades, the Federation had never stopped infiltrating the Empire, and might even be secretly collaborating with certain Empire factions.
The night gradually deepened, the stars gradually shifted, and the temperature gradually dropped. Under one of the mulberry trees, Xu Le narrowed his eyes and looked at the Empire officer under the other tree. Seeing that his breathing was gradually calmer and his shoulders naturally shrunk inward, he understood that under the condition of blood loss, this person should be feeling somewhat cold.
Other than shivering clothes, humans also had a way to resist the cold. Although this kind of sleep was often fatal, it was always hard to resist the instinctive choice.
The wind was still blowing the branches of the mulberry trees, rustling them in a monotonous manner that induced sleep.
Xu Le remained motionless. He silently looked in that direction, counting the other's breathing rate. Only after counting for nearly an hour did he lower his gaze and slowly take off his shoes.
Immediately afterward, he took off his dusty and bloodstained silk jacket, gently wetting it in the small hole under the tree and tying it around his neck. Then, he silently stood up and carefully took a step back.
His bare feet stepped on the soft, wet grass without making any sound. Not even the insects in the grass were startled.
He took a second step and once again approached the mulberry forest behind him, forcibly suppressing his heartbeat and controlling his breathing.
Then came the third step. As long as he entered the sea of darkness behind him, who could catch him?
However, at this moment, a silent vibration suddenly came from his shoulders, causing his footsteps to freeze in place.
Lowering his head to look, the bracelets tied to the two bloody holes above his shoulder blades weakly lit up three times. After a moment of silence, Xu Le inwardly sighed and lightly shook his head.
Under the mulberry tree ten-some meters away, Huai Caoshi slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were abnormally bright as he looked at Xu Le and said in a hoarse voice, "I always thought you to be a smart person. Now, it seems that you have made a few mistakes in your judgment."
His voice was suppressed to an extremely low level. The night birds resting in the forest were still in their sweet dreams, undisturbed. However, he knew that Xu Le should have been able to clearly hear his words.
"The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. Those people who want to kill me are probably also very willing to kill you."
Huai Caoshi said with an indifferent expression, "The Empire is covered in chip detection equipment. Do you really think you can escape?"
Xu Le was silent for a moment. Naturally, he would not explain his final card to his opponent. He walked back to his own mulberry tree and somewhat tiredly sat down as if he had done nothing.
"In addition, this time, I don't know if I can survive." Huai Caoshi looked at him and said, "But before I die, I will definitely kill you first, so you had best pray that I can survive."
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